The present disclosure relates to an optoelectronic device, and particularly to an optoelectronic device employing a microcavity and a two-dimensional lattice structure embedded therein, and methods of manufacturing the same.
Current optoelectronic technologies based on silicon and group III-V semiconductor compounds have large device footprints. For example, typical optoelectronic devices currently available have an average device area on the order of a square millimeter. Further, current optoelectronic devices also have a limited switching speed. For example, on-chip optoelectronic components operating in the terahertz regime are not currently available.
Two-dimensional carbon lattice structures include sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed in a hexagonal lattice structure. If the two-dimensional carbon lattice structure is topologically planar, the two-dimensional carbon lattice structure constitutes a graphene layer. If the two-dimensional carbon lattice structure includes a curvature in one direction and the two-dimensional carbon lattice structure wraps around to form a topologically tube-shaped structure, the two-dimensional carbon lattice structure constitutes a carbon nanotube.
A graphene layer and a carbon nanotube allow for modulating charge carrier densities at a very high speed. Moreover, a graphene layer and a carbon nanotube absorb and emit light across the entire range of the electromagnetic spectrum, and sustain high electrical current densities and extreme temperatures. Despite the superior performance potential of a graphene layer and a carbon nanotube relative to silicon and group III-V semiconductor compounds in terms of such properties, formation of a compact optoelectronic device based on a graphene layer or a carbon nanotube and smaller than currently available optoelectronic technologies based on silicon and group III-V semiconductor compounds is a significant challenge because coupling between electromagnetic radiation and charge carriers of the graphene layer and/or the carbon nanotube is relatively weak.